A Bessemer-based ring cashed at least $100,000 in counterfeit checks from the accounts of mostly Montgomery-area businesses or residents that had one thing in common -- they had all donated to the American Heart Association.

A heart association official said no one involved in the counterfeit ring was associated with their group. While they don't know how counterfeiters got copies of donor checks to use in the scheme, the group says it has already made changes to protect donor information.

"The American Heart Association takes the protection of donor records very seriously and is constantly evaluating ways to enhance security including a recent nationwide transition to a centralized, paperless imaging process for maintaining records of checks received from donors," said Nicole Thurston Abdou, communications director for the association in Birmingham.

Two Bessemer residents face federal charges in the counterfeit ring, which involved nearly a dozen people, according to federal court documents. At least two people identified as having been a part of the scheme have been charged in state court.

Court documents show that at least seven others may have been involved, but it is not certain whether they have been charged.

Rhonda Poole of Bessemer was charged Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Birmingham with one count of presenting a forged and counterfeit check. A plea agreement also was entered at the same time the charge was filed. She, however, has not entered a formal guilty plea in the case.

According to Poole's plea agreement, her boyfriend, Lloyd Noble, ran the counterfeit check and bank fraud scheme out of the house they shared. That house, according to other court records, is in Bessemer.

"Noble used a computer software program called VersaCheck to produce fake checks bearing false signatures of actual authorized signors for various companies," according to Poole's plea agreement. "Noble would also manufacture fake identification documents, including driver's licenses, for his associates (or "runners")."

The fake checks would be made out to the fake identifications where the runners would cash them at various banks in Birmingham and elsewhere, according to the plea agreement.

Fake checks commonly were made out for amounts ranging from $750 to $1,000 each, according to an affidavit by a U.S. Postal Inspector, filed when Noble was arrested in early May.

The estimated losses tied to Noble's organization are about $100,000, according to the affidavit. "Investigators believe that this total under represents the total losses in this case, as this amount primarily comes from two area banks, Compass .¤.¤. and Regions Bank," according to the affidavit.

A Regions Bank spokeswoman declined to comment because the case is ongoing.

A spokesman for BBVA Compass said that institution is cooperating fully with federal and state authorities in their investigation.

"The security and privacy of our customers financial information is of upmost importance," said spokesman Ed Bilek.

Noble maintains his innocence and has pleaded not guilty to the charges, said his attorney, Scott Brower. "He claims he did not have anything to do with it and got caught up with something other people were doing," Brower said.

Efforts to reach Poole's attorney for comment on Thursday were unsuccessful.

When authorities conducted a search of Noble and Poole's home in April they found evidence of the counterfeit scheme, according to the affidavit. Among the items found were: shredded counterfeit checks and a Social Security card, a printed guide on the appearance of various state driver's licenses and identification cards, magnetic check printing ink, blank check stock, and a computer thumbdrive that included various images of banks' emblems, and fake driver's licenses and identification cards.

Also found during that search were copies of four donation checks made payable to the American Heart Association, plus a shredded copy of another one made out to that group, according to the affidavit.

The business accounts of at least 12 other victims that have been compromised and used in the counterfeit scheme had made a donation to the American Heart Association in 2008 or 2009, according to the affidavit.

Association officials were unable to offer an explanation as to how their donors' accounts may have been compromised or came into the possession of Noble, according to the affidavit.

Heart association officials in their normal course of business made copies of the checks donors sent to them, according to the affidavit. The Montgomery office of the association had closed last year and all records moved to Birmingham, according to the affidavit.

The only companies or individuals postal inspectors have been able to confirm that were victims of the counterfeiting operation were ones that had donated to the heart association, said Tony Robinson, a U.S. Postal Inspector in Birmingham.

The American Heart Association was notified by local and federal authorities of an investigation regarding counterfeit checks that were forged from approximately 20 photocopies of checks sent to our Montgomery Division during the 2008-09 fiscal year, Abdou said.

"The Association has fully cooperated with authorities including the local United States Postal Inspector and are pleased that this investigation has led to arrests," she said.

Heart association officials don't know how the counterfeiters got hold of the checks, Abdou said. "It has been determined by authorities that these individuals were in no way associated with the American Heart Association," she said.

Since this incident, Abdou said, the paperless imaging system went into place to ensure any type of donor information does not land into the hands of any unauthorized person.